The beginning and abolition of oprichnina. Consequences of the oprichnina

The abolition of the oprichnina from year to year goes back to the depths of the centuries, and much of what the creation of its long-suffering Russian land has brought is erased from the people's memory. This is very unfortunate, since history has a habit of repeating again to people the lessons they have not learned. This is especially true today, when there are supporters of the iron dictatorship and autocracy.

Spectrum of historical estimates of oprichnina

For centuries, since the death of Ivan the Terrible, the attitude to the realities that characterized the era of his rule, and, in particular, to the oprichnina, has changed many times. The range of characteristics varied from assessing them as manifestations of the psychic insanity of the tsar (the point of view of most pre-revolutionary historians), to the recognition of the actions of the oprichnina troops as progressive, directed exclusively at strengthening the state, centralizing power and overcoming feudal disunity (Stalin's position). In this regard, the abolition of oprichnina was almost an obstacle to progress.

History of the term "oprichnina"

What is the meaning of the term itself? It is known that it originated from the Slavic word "oprich", that is, "outside", "separately", "outside." Initially, they denoted the allotment that was given to the widow after the death of her husband, and was outside the main part of the property to be divided.

During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the territories that had been confiscated from their former owners, transferred to state use and became the property of their servicemen, received this name. The rest of the country was called "zemshchina". There is evident cunning tsar. Out of the total mass of the lands that belonged mainly to the boyar estate, he allocated a share to the state, of which he was the personification, and, calling it a "widow's share," took the role of a humble and offended sovereign, crushed by the tyranny of boyars in need of defenders.

They became a thousands-strong army, collected exclusively from the population confiscated and handed over to the state, that is, "oprichny" territories. In 1565, when this innovation was established, the army was a thousand people, but by 1572, when oprichnina's abolition became inevitable, it increased almost sixfold. According to the Tsar's plan, she was assigned the role of the national guard, endowed with broad powers and intended to strengthen state power.

The aggravation of the internal political crisis

Speaking about the reasons that prompted Ivan the Terrible to create oprichnina, as a rule, first of all note his conflict with the boyar Duma, the reason for which were disagreements on most issues of state policy. Unwilling to listen to anyone's objections, inclined to see signs of a hidden conspiracy in everything, the tsar soon passed from the debate to tightening up power and mass repressions.

The conflict took on a special urgency, when in 1562 the patrimonial rights of the boyars were restricted by the royal decree, so that they were equated with the local nobility. The result of the prevailing situation was the tendency for the boyars to flee from the tsarist arbitrariness abroad.

Beginning in 1560, the stream of fugitives constantly increased, which could not but arouse the Emperor's wrath. A special response was the secret departure to Poland of one of the most prominent tsarist dignitaries, Andrei Kurbsky, who dared not only to leave the country voluntarily, but also send a letter to Ivan, which contained direct accusations against him.

The beginning of large-scale repressions

The reason for the beginning of mass repressions was the defeat of Russian troops in the battle with the Lithuanians on the Ule River, which occurred in 1564. It was those who, in the opinion of the tsar, were the direct or indirect culprit of defeat, became the first victims. In addition, in December of the same year, rumors appeared in Moscow that many eminent boyars, fearing disgrace, had collected a considerable army in Lithuania and Poland and were preparing a seizure of power.

Thus, the creation of the oprichnina army became a protective measure of the tsar against a real and often imaginary danger, and the abolition of the oprichnina, which will be discussed below, is a consequence of its complete failure, as the backbone of state power. But this is in the future, and at that moment, before letting go of his unbridled nature, the tsar had to enlist the support of the broad masses of the people, and with their tacit consent to begin their bloody feast.

Events that accompanied the creation of oprichnina

To this end, Ivan was played a real play. Having retired with the whole family to the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, and announcing his abdication because of the offenses allegedly inflicted on him by the boyars and the clergy, he thereby incited the people's lower classes, in whose representation he was the anointed of God and, in fact, His viceroy in The earth. The tsar agreed to change his decision only if he was given full freedom to create a court and punish all those who would provoke his anger.

His actions provoked a heat of anti-boyar sentiments among the people, forcing the Duma to ask Ivan the Terrible to continue reigning on all the conditions he had put forward. In early January 1565 the people's deputation arrived in the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, then the tsar decided to establish oprichnina.

Organization of a new military structure

As already mentioned above, the first detachment numbered a thousand people and was completely formed from the inhabitants of the "oprichny" uyezds. All recruits swore allegiance to the tsar and in complete disruption of communication with the zemstvo. Their distinctive signs were the dog's heads hanging to the horses' necks, symbolizing the readiness to seek sedition, and the brooms attached to the saddles are a sign that the detected sedition will be immediately swept away as a harmful waste.

The maintenance of the numerous and constantly growing oprichnina troops was entrusted to a number of Russian cities, among which the largest were Suzdal, Kozelsk, Vyazma and Vologda. In Moscow itself, several streets were given to their disposal, such as Nikitskaya, Arbat, Sivtsev Vrazhek and others. Their former inhabitants were forcibly expelled from their homes and relocated to remote parts of the city.

Undermining the economy, the first manifestations of discontent

Confiscation of lands belonging to the zemstvo and transferring them to the oprichniks struck a blow to the landowning of a large feudal nobility, but at the same time undermined the country's economy. The reasons for the cancellation of oprichnina, which followed in 1572, included the destruction by new landowners of the system of supplying the country with foodstuffs that had been established for centuries. The fact is that the lands that became the property of the new elite, for the most part were abandoned, and no work was done on them.

In 1566 the next, consisting of representatives of all classes, was called the Zemsky Sobor. The request to abolish the oprichnina its deputies had not yet dared to express the discontent created by the people with the arbitrariness of "servicemen", nevertheless they turned to the tsar with petition for taking measures against their excesses. Ivan Grozny regarded any such statement as an attempt on his monarch's rights, and as a result, three hundred petitioners were imprisoned.

The Novgorod tragedy

It is known that the reign of Ivan the Terrible (especially during the oprichnina) is characterized by large-scale terror against the population of its own country, which was caused by the unbridled cruelty of the autocrat, and the motivating factors were suspicion and suspiciousness. This became especially evident during his punitive campaign against the inhabitants of Novgorod, undertaken by him in 1569-1570.

Suspecting the Novgorodians in the intention to move under the jurisdiction of the Polish king, Ivan the Terrible, accompanied by the numerous oprichnina troops, came to the banks of the Volkhov to punish the guilty and intimidate future traitors. Without any reason to blame anyone specifically, the king poured out his anger at everyone who fell in his way. For several days, drunk with impunity, the oprichniks plundered and killed innocent people.

Demoralization and disintegration of the oprichnina troops

According to modern researchers, at least 10-15 thousand people became their victims, while the total population of the city at that time did not exceed 30 thousand people, that is, at least 30% of the citizens were killed. It is fair to note that the abolition of the Oprichnina in 1572 was largely the result of the fall of the moral authority of the tsarist authorities, the bearer of which was henceforth regarded not as a father and an intercessor, but as a rapist and a robber.

However, having tasted blood, the king and his servants were no longer able to stop. The years that followed the Novgorod campaign were marked by numerous bloody executions both in Moscow and in many other cities. Only at the end of July 1670 in the capital's squares were found the death of more than two hundred convicts. But this bloody revelry had an irreversible effect on the executioners themselves. The impunity of crimes and the ease of extraction completely demoralized and corrupted the once fully combat-ready army.

Deserters

It was just the beginning. The abolition of oprichnina largely resulted from events related to the invasion of the Tatars in 1671. Then, having forgotten how to fight and mastered only the habit of plundering civilians, the oprichniks basically did not appear at the gathering points. Suffice it to say that of the six regiments that came out to meet the enemy, five were formed from representatives of the zemstvo.

In August of the following year, an event occurred, followed by such a long-awaited abolition of oprichnina. The Battle of the Youth, in which fifty kilometers from Moscow the Russian and Tatars converged, without the participation of the oprichniks, was brilliantly won by the Zemstvo army, led by the princes Vorotynsky and Khvorostinin. It clearly showed worthlessness and empty burdens on the state of this privileged military-political structure.

Documents that have been preserved since that time have shown that the abolition of oprichnina, the date of which (as it is commonly believed) in 1572, was prepared much earlier. This is evidenced by an endless series of executions of the most prominent approximate tsar from among the high-ranking oprichniki, which followed already in 1570-1571. The yesterday's favorites of the tsar were physically destroyed, those who, in his own words, served him as a support and protection against anyone who was ready to encroach on the throne. But the year 1572 still has not brought a final release to the people from its oppressors.

The death of the tsar and the final abolition of the oprichnina

In what year was the period of oprichnina finally ended in Russia? This is a question that does not have an unambiguous answer. Despite the official decree of the tsar to abolish this structure, the actual division of Russian lands into Zemsky and Oprichniy remained until his death (1584).

In 1575, at the head of the zemstvo, Ivan the Terrible was baptized Tatar prince Simeon Bekbulatovich. This appointment was preceded by another strip of executions. This time, dignitaries were among the criminals who took seats in the Tsar's entourage after the defeat of the oprichnina in 1572, as well as a number of high-ranking clerics.

Oprichnina abolition and its consequences

About what oprichnina brought to the people of Russia, our prerevolutionary historian V.O. Klyuchevsky. He quite rightly remarked that, pursuing an alleged sedition, the oprichnina became the cause of anarchy, and thereby generated a real threat to the throne. He also noted that those bloody punishments, with which the tsar's servants tried to protect the sovereign, undermined the very foundations of the state system.

The abolition of oprichnina (the year of the issuance of the tsarist decree) was marked for Russia by a difficult situation in the west of the country, where military operations against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were conducted. The Russian army, weakened by the economic crisis that prevailed in the country, was pushed back by the Poles. The Livonian War that ended by that time also did not bring the expected success. In addition, under the Swedish occupation were Narva and Koporye, and their further fate was alarming. Because of the above inaction and the actual desertion of the oprichnina troops in 1671, Moscow was devastated and burnt. Against the backdrop of this difficult situation, the oprichnina was abolished.

In what year and by whom was the bloody despot not only rehabilitated, but also recognized as the leader of progress? The answer can be found in the criticism with which Stalin attacked the first series of Eisenstein's film Ivan the Terrible, published in 1945. According to him, taken up by Soviet propaganda, the role of Ivan the Terrible in history was deeply positive, and all actions were reduced only to the provision of centralized power and the creation of a powerful state. As for the methods by which the goals were achieved, this, according to Stalin, was a secondary issue. With his own activities, the "father of nations" fully demonstrated the sincerity of his judgment.